County Supports Effort To Preserve Wekiva River

April 3, 1985|By Ramsey Campbell of The Sentinel Staff

TAVARES — An appeal for tri-county planning coordination to help preserve the Wekiva River received the green light from Lake County commissioners Tuesday, but they stopped short of calling for a resource management committee to protect the river.

A delegation from the Friends of the Wekiva, an environmentalist group based in Winter Park, had asked the county to join it in calling for a resource management committee which would include members from Lake, Seminole and Orange counties as well as state environmental officials.

They said the spring-fed river between Lake County on the west and Orange and Seminole counties to the east was under enormous develpment pressure.

''The time is now to do something to preserve the river,'' said Phyllis Saaren, a spokesman for the group.

Another member of the group, Fred Hardin, said the river provides a habitat for several unique species of snails and crawfish found nowhere else in the world.

''Its a magnificant river. I would like my grandchildren to see it like it is now,'' he said. ''But no one county can protect it.''

Members of the group said they were alarmed at Lake County's interest in tri-county transporation planning with Orange and Seminole counties, which may revive interest in an expressway through the heart of the Wekiva River system linking Lake and Seminole counties.

Lake County Administrator Mike Willett said that historically the county has supported efforts to preserve the river but he was concerned the committee that the environmental group was lobbying for was the first step toward having the state declare the river an Area of Critical Concern.

That designation would allow the state to step in and set limits on development.

Willett said establishing a formal resource management committee has been the first step in many instances for requesting such a designation.

The Green Swamp in south Lake County was listed an Area of Critical Concern in the 1970s and county officials said they were unhappy with the designation. Saaren said Orange County officials have indicated they would go along with the group's request, but Seminole County officials say they are content with county controls on the Wekiva.

Will Davis, director of the Lake County Water Authority, said his staff was already looking at the Wekiva River area and is in the process of making recommendations to the county about preserving it.

Lake County commissioners said they wanted to hear those recommendations, which should be ready this summer. In the meantime, the commission unanimously agreed to begin informal talks with Orange and Seminole counties about cooperating to preserve the river.